Gillette 10 – 15th June 2016

With a SW wind about 10 mph Curtis set the first beat down to 4 then  2p, 8p, 9s, 5s, 6s, 7s and back through the start.
 
There were 13 starters and first back through the line was Karen (Laser) followed by Roland & Ryan (National12), then there was a trio of Solos, Newton, Steve S and Julian W. Rod came through in 6th place in only the second Laser out tonight! Well apart from Ellen, but she was next through flying a Radial sail. Then five boats came through in close order and this lot were changing places all through the race. On the first lap the order was Dave & Ann (Leader), Bob (Solo), Mike A (Lightning) and Chris A (Solo) across the line together, followed by Sally & Mike C (Leader) with Paula & Angela a little further back in the Comet Duo.
 
At the end of the second lap the first four maintained their places, but Rod moved up to 5th by passing Julian with Ellen still in 7th place. Mike A moved up two places to 8th and Sally & Mike were up three places to 9th.
 
At the finish there was no change in the order of the first seven boats with Karen and Roland & Ryan finishing well clear of the rest. Sally & Mike C using a great deal of skill and tactical nous (and a fluky lift!) had gained another place to finish 8th with Bob gaining two places to finish 9th.
 
The final positions on the water were –
1st Karen; 2nd Roland & Ryan; 3rd Newton; 4th Steve S; 5th Rod; 6th Julian.
 
On handicap Julian will move up one place above Rod, but that should be the only change.
 
Thanks to Curtis and the OOD team of Dean, Ken, Mike T, Nick and Peter.
 

Summer Series 2 – 12th June 2016

A really dreary morning with a thick mizzle and not much wind, about 6 mph  from the West veering SW for the second race. James P opted for a Committee Boat start with the CB south west of No 7 and the pin up near the buoy line.
 
Pursuit Race
The course for this race was 8s, 5p, 9s, 2s, 4s, Xp, 6s and back through the start. There were only 10 starters, perhaps not surprising given the weather conditions.
At the end of one lap Ellen & Newton (RS200) led with Steve S (Solo) 2nd and Roland & Ryan (National 12) 3rd, but by the gun Roland & Ryan had nicked 2nd place.
The final positions were – 1st Newton &Ellen; 2nd Roland & Ryan; 3rd Steve S; 4th Chris H; 5th Adrian; 6th Hadey.
 
 
Handicap Race
With the wind veering slightly James changed the course for the second race to 9s, 5p, 1s, 2s, 4s, 6s and back through the start.
Newton & Ellen were 1st back through the start already some way ahead of Adrian (Vago), Roland & Ryan and Steve  S. Hadey (Radial) was next being chased by Mike A (Lightning) and further back there was a terrific scrap between Chris H (Comet) and the Lasers of Steve P, Alistair S and Gareth.
At the end of the second and final lap Newton & Ellen had increased their lead, Roland & Ryan had moved up to 2nd and Steve S was up to 3rd. Mike had managed to catch Hadey and in the battle of the Lasers, Alistair just nicked it from Steve with Gareth finishing ahead of Chris.
The final placings on the water were –
1st Newton & Ellen; 2nd Roland & Ryan; 3rd Steve s; 4th Adrian; 5th Mike A; 6th Hadey.
On handicap Steve will leapfrog Roland & Ryan and Mike A and Hadey will move past Adrian.
 
Thanks to James and the OOD team of Roland L, Bob H, David M and Simon R.
 

Gillette Series 9 – 8th June

There was a very light wind tonight, about 5 mph and forecast to be ENE, although it kept swinging around. Roland S used a Tektona start with a beat down to 6 then 9s, 4s and back through the start.
There were some heavy thunderstorms rumbling around and this with the light wind resulted in only 9 starters.
Karen (Laser) and Mike A (Lightning) got away at the front and initially Mark B (Enterprise) was with them, but then Ellen (Radial) and Hugh (Laser) managed to get past him. Dean out in his Laser for a change probably wondered why he had bothered, but he persevered and finished. It was very slow going and Bob (Solo), Rick (Laser) and William H (Topper) got stuck rounding the first mark and eventually retired.
The final positions were –
1st Karen; 2nd Mike A; 3rd Ellen; 4th Hugh; 5th Mark; 6th Dean and these positions will not change on handicap.
Thanks to Roland S and the OOD team of Ryan, Chris & Carol M and James H.
 

Summer Series 1 – 5th June 2016

There was a 9 mph ENE wind, although the direction and strength varied considerably during the morning, but it was a beautiful warm sunny morning. Rod B set a first beat to Op (between 5 and 6, but in the middle of the lake) then 5p, 1s, 3s and back through the start (there may be a mark missed out there, but the course was not written down on the race record sheet and I have trouble remembering the course even when I have written it down!)
 
Pursuit Race
There were 13 starters and it was good to see Pat and Gordon out in their Mirrors. They should have led the way off from the start, but I am not sure that they actually did.
 
By the end of the first lap Ellen & Scott (RS200) and James P (Laser) had caught all the early starters and led the way across the line, but William was hanging on to 3rd place in his Topper. Adrian (Rooster) the last man away had come through to 4th with Chris H (Comet) 5th and Chris A (Solo) 6th.
At the gun the first two had kept their places but Adrian had moved up to 3rd and Chris H up to 4th.
The final positions were 1st Ellen &Scott; 2nd James; 3rd Adrian; 4th Chris H; 5th Mike A and 6th Rick.
 
Handicap Race
Pat and Gordon had decided to go for a cup of tea, but Jess B joined the fleet making 12 starters.
Ellen & Scott were first back through the start line followed by Adrian and James (seems to be a pattern developing here!) Jess B was 4th, Rick 5th, Gareth 6th, Alistair S 7th and Steve P 8th, all in Lasers.
At the end of the second lap the positions of the first two boats were unchanged, but Jess had got past James to move up to 3rd. Mike A (Lightning) had moved up four places to 5th and Steve P was up two places to 6th. William received the finish gun at the end of this lap.
On the last lap James repassed Jess to take 3rd across the line, Steve P moved up another place to 5th and Rick was up two places to 6th.
The final positions on the water were –
1st Ellen & Scott; 2nd Adrian; 3rd James; 4th Jess; 5th; Steve P and 6th Rick.
 
On handicap James and Jess should move up to 2nd and 3rd with Chris H moving up to 4th and Mike A to 5th pushing Adrian back to 6th.
 
Thanks to Rod and the OOD team of Jan & Paul H, Richard H and Tony R.

Whitsun Pennant – Monday 30 May 2016

A cold Bank Holiday Monday with quite a brisk North wind saw only six boats braving the conditions. Dave P set a course of 5s, 9s, 4p, 1s, Xs and back through the start.
This was a six lap race and the first lap pretty well determined the final placings. Steve S (Laser) came through the line in 1st place closely followed by Newton & Ellen (RS200) then there was a gap back  to Hadey (4.7) who in turn was closely followed by Richard H (Laser) and Gareth (Laser) with Laser 61642 (helm unknown- but if you know who it was let Newton know).
There was no change for the next two laps but by the end of the fourth lap Newton & Ellen had taken the lead from Steve. On the fifth lap the only change was Gareth getting past Richard to move up to 4th place and these positions were maintained to the finish.
The final positions on the water and on handicap were –
1st Newton &Ellen; 2nd Steve S; 3rd Hadey; 4th Gareth; 5th Richard H and 6th Laser 61642.
Thanks to Dave P and the OOD team of Tracey, Sophie and Roland L.
 

Gillette Series 8 – 1st June 2016

Tonight was overcast with a NE wind about 13-14 mph and a bit chilly. Steve S used an Island start with a first beat to 5, then 9s, 4p, 2p and back through the start.
There were only 11 starters probably because of the uncertain weather.  David C (Laser) was first back through the line on the first lap and for every lap after. Newton (Solo) came through in 2nd with Ellen (Radial) 3rd and they battled together for the whole of the race. Dave & Ann (Leader) were 4th but only just ahead of Sally & Mike in their Leader. Julian W (Solo) was 6th with Rod (Laser) 7th  and then came Mike A (Lightning), Dean & Nick (Vago) and Nev & Bob (Leader) with Richard H (Laser) bringing up the rear.
At the end of the second lap the first three remained the same but Rod had moved up to 4th and Sally & Mike had got past Dave & Ann to move to 5th and Richard H had moved up three places to 8th.
On the third lap Ellen had got past Newton to move up to 2nd and Richard H had made up another two places to 6th. At the back of the fleet the battle between Mike A, Dean & Nick and Nev & Bob continued with them changing places every lap.
There was no change in the leading five boats at the end of the fourth lap, but Dave & Ann had retaken 6th place from Richard.
Lap 5 was the only lap in which there were no changes in position and the only changes on the last lap were Richard repassing Dave & Ann and Nev & Bob sneaking past Mike A right on the finish line.
The final positions on the water were –
1st David C; 2nd Ellen; 3rd Newton; 4th Rod; 5th Sally & Mike; 6th Richard H
On handicap the first three should remain the same, but Sally & Mike will leapfrog Rod and Dave & Ann should displace Richard H from 6th.

Thanks to Steve S and the OOD team of Simon B and John C.
 

BBQ Race 2 “Fastnet” Sunday 14:30

Race 2 in the BBQ series this Sunday sees the intrepid sailors off to the east coast of Ireland (ish) on the “Fastnet” or an approximation thereof. Fun and informal racing youths and juniors, but big kids are welcome as well.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
James Primrose

WORK PARTY 4th JUNE

·        Club house cleaning. Remove cobwebs, vacuum under changing room benches, ladies and gents. Clean paintwork in changing rooms, disabled lav and entrance hall. Sally can advise.

·        Boats launch area, to left of wooden pontoons. Strim vegetation around area. Remove bricks and large rocks from water edge.

·        Island race area. Shoreline vegetation needs cutting back, especially in the direction of buoy 9.

·        Help cut up and move old boat trailers for future disposal in skip.

·        General strimming and grass cutting around club.

·        Trim encroaching vegetation on club access road.

·        Clean jetty, pontoons.

·        Remove weed from slipways.

·        Please put your name on the sheet.

 

Spring Series 11 Pursuit

Apologies to the girls as the Pursuit result should have been 1st Karen; 2nd Jess and 3rd Ellen (with Newton).
 
So that’s a 1,2,3 for them – Not sure if that’s the first time in a series race but well done girls
 

Spring Series 11 – 29th May 2016

It was good to see another new sailor joining the racing fleet, so welcome to Jess Bertram for her first race at RSC.  
With a NE wind of 10mph forecast to rise to 13 mph James used an Island start with a first beat to X (about hallway between 5 and 6, but in the middle of the lake), then 5p, 8s, 4p, 3p, 2p and back through the start.
 
Pursuit Race
There were 23 starters for this race and after one lap early starter William P (Topper) was still leading from his fellow Topper sailor Ben H. Gordon P (Mirror) came through in 3rd with John C (Topaz) 4th being caught by Jess B(Radial) who had just passed Chris A (Solo).
By the second lap Karen (Laser) had come to the front and Jess had moved up to 2nd with Richard S (Laser) 3rd, Ellen & Newton (RS200 4th, Mark B (Laser) 5th and Jon (Laser) 6th.
At the gun these first six boats had maintained their positions.
There was an interesting incident just before the finish gun when Chris A fouled the mark and started to do his penalty turn just as the gun went and just as he collided with Mike A coming up to the mark.
The question is whether you have to do penalty turns after the finish gun has sounded in a pursuit race and how would you decide finishing positions?  Would be interested to hear from anyone who knows the answer!
 
Handicap Race
Dave I (Radial) and John C decided to sit this one out as usual, but the appearance of David C and Richard H, both in Lasers meant that the field remained at 23 for the second race of the day.
 
David C led at the end of the first lap followed closely by Jon C and this was to be the pattern for the whole of the race. Karen came through in 3rd with Mark 4th, Newton & Ellen 5th and Adrian (Rooster) 6th. There was a peculiar collision between Peter R (Enterprise) and Dave & Ann L (Leader) on the way down to No 8. It looked as if the boats had contracted Spring fever and had started to perform a graceful courtship dance locked together and pirouetting around one another! Peter retired after this unfortunate coupling, not sure if he suffered some damage or could not stand the passion !
 
At the end of the second lap the only change in the leading boats was Newton & Ellen taking 4th place form Mark. There was a packed midfield of Lasers enjoying some close sailing, but the slower boats of Chris A (Solo), Mike A (Lightning) and Chris H (Comet) were getting left behind in the freshening breeze.
 
By the third lap Adrian had moved up to 4th pushing Mark down to 6th and Richards S had gained three places to move up to 7th just in front of Jess in 8th. In the middle of the fleet, the Lasers of Rod, John H and Dave P were having a good battle with Paul H (Supernova) for 9th to 12th places. Not far behind them there was another good tussle between Steve P (Laser) and Rick (Laser) and then slightly further back Richard H and Gareth D, both in Lasers, were having their own battle.. Dave & Ann had to retire as their Leader had obviously over-exerted itself in the dancing and could not take any more!
 
At the end of the fourth lap the leading boats had shuffled position slightly with Adrian moving up another place to 3rd and Richard up two places to 5th. John H had gained two places to move up to 8th, but Rod and Jess crossed the line together in joint 9th. The only other mover was Paul H who gained a place to move to 11th. William and Ben who had been having a good battle in their Toppers received the gun at the end of this lap with William just coming out on top.
 
The last and fifth lap saw no change in the first four, but Newton & Ellen managed to get past Richard and Mark to move up to 5th. Jess had managed to shake off Rod and get past John H to move up to 8th and Steve P had got the better of Dave P and Rick to move up to 12th, but there were no other changes in position.
 
Final positions on the water were –
1st David C; 2nd Jon C; 3rd Adrian; 4th Karen; 5th Newton & Ellen, 6th Richard S
 
On handicap Jess in her Radial should take 3rd place with Adrian dropping out of the top six.
Thanks to James and the OOD team of Dean & Nick J, Chris S and John W.
 
 
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